A Bad Day At The Office
by Thorntons
Summary: Tag to 3.15 Red gold - Madeline Hightower was a tough cookie but could she control Patrick Jane where others had failed?


**A/N** Hightower was cool and sassy and a great character.

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A day out in the field with Patrick Jane -well that would be interesting and a break from the office might clear her troubled head . She had a great new job, a crack if somewhat unconventional team but still it all seemed to be going pear shaped.

Irresponsible as ever Jane's tomfoolery ended up with Lisbon getting injured – Lisbon glossed over the facts but it did not take Hightower long to get to the bottom of it; not that the damn fool consultant appeared to feel particularly guilty about it.

Madeline Hightower was like a tigress fierce, brave and protective nothing was allowed to threaten her family but through her own actions she had thrown her family into turmoil; that fling with Howard was the straw that broke the camel's back - not that her husband was exactly blameless but at least he had been discrete.

There was always a prurient interest in the private lives of high ranked women in law enforcement, you just had to brazen it out - no point being lily livered about it, after all life was what it was but gossip spread quickly and her affair with Howard had apparently become common knowledge. Now her marriage was fatally broken, she had removed her ring and her only concern was in ensuring they maintained a stable environment for their children, although that was easier said than done. One thing was certain her kids were not pawns to be played with in their twisted game.

So already somewhat wound up, she approached the prospect of a day with that smart assed consultant belligerently. No way was she going to go along with some half baked scheme and upset the local townspeople, hell no! She would show Lisbon how to handle Patrick Jane and maybe learn something about the dynamic between those two.

It did not start promisingly Jane started with some facetious remarks about her legs, ducked and dived in the street on the pretext of avoiding a suspect and darn it if the SOB had not hugged her.

This was a challenge, she would find out what made him tick and take him down a peg or two but before long she realised she was not the one doing the hunting she was the prey, Jane had her firmly in his sights and was dissecting her with his rapier observation skills – _hell she was being mentalised!_

Watching Jane at work was like watching a slow train crash - he rubbed people up the wrong way upsetting their equilibrium until he could get a handle on them, then having discounted the confused subject he would matter of factly do a volte-face leaving everyone else to sweep up after him and _God damn it... he was doing again right now in front of her._

His explanation that it was analogous to being frisked at an airport had a perverse logic but no she was not going to be drawn into his shenanigans, she would show him who was in charge.

Hightower deflected Jane's invitation to talk but once the kids had been dropped off at the office it just seemed to go downhill from there. The consultant respectfully detached himself whilst she spoke to the kids and Lisbon but she knew he was taking everything in, a fact confirmed by their subsequent conversation when he boldly stated it was common knowledge about the state of her marriage. She felt exposed like an open book being slowly flicked through by the mentalist and she did not like it one bit.

Lisbon really was a brick, Hightower had given her a hard time when she started, that was her tried and trusted approach on entering a new position - divide and rule and see how people react. After a nervous start Lisbon had impressed her, though her predilection for following Jane blindly would undoubtedly land her in serious trouble one day, he was both her strength and weakness and they all knew it but whilst the results went their way no point rocking that particular boat.

Hightower marvelled at their partnership there was something very special about their relationship - sometimes volatile, occasionally flirtatious but mostly supportive, she did not know what made her broken consultant and his team leader such a good fit but there was no doubting neither was completely whole without the other. If either one was unhappy so was the other, their fortunes were inextricably linked a fact Jane had quickly apprised her of prior to one of his ill fated "save Lisbon" schemes. Still Hightower and Lisbon had established a mutually respectful relationship, not quite friends but largely harmonious.

Somewhat comforted by her conversation with Lisbon who had turned that particular mountain back into a molehill she felt able to concentrate on the events on hand.

So what else could go wrong, she was in control playing bad cop to Jane's somewhat offbeat cop. God damn it he was at it again, before she knew what was happening he had whisked her into the car in pursuit of his quarry then the smart ass ended up being held at gunpoint before Hightower stepped in and made the arrest. _How did that happen?_ _She had to regain control ... come on Madeline get a grip._

She watched his chicanery at the prospector's store, as he guided the bemused kid into helping trick the murderer into thinking they knew location of the mine. Before she knew it she had gotten pulled into another of his damn foolish schemes following in pursuit as he tracked the murderer to the mine.

This time she stayed in the background as the scene played out in front of her, waiting for the perpetrator to reveal as much as possible before intervening. Then of course things started to get a bit sticky and her wide eyed consultant was not quite so calm, cool and collected when the murderer drew his gun on him - that cat was sure using his lives up today.

She did not know what held her back, perhaps there was a perverse pleasure in seeing the tables reversed on Mr Know-it-all, so she waited as long as possible before making an entrance.

Of course no one knew she had special training and was in fact a crack shot. Jane's eyes were like saucers as she raised her gun to take down her man – she did not need to be a mentalist to read the look on Jane's face which was one of pure disbelief that she was really going to attempt the shot whilst he was in danger. Ignoring his beseeching looks and somewhat squeaky voice, she took down her man like a cool assassin then calmly examined the fallen man before looking over to the flailing consultant who had somewhat over dramatically fallen to the side.

She smiled inwardly before coolly looking Jane straight in the eye – _Who was in control now smart ass?_

After collecting her kids from the unflappable Lisbon she reflected on her day – She ruefully accepted the crime had been solved with remarkable efficiency and although there were a few bruised egos along the way the victim's kid and girlfriend now owned a goldmine and could start to rebuild their lives.

It had felt slightly adulterous replacing Lisbon as Jane's sidekick for the day but she had a better understanding of their dynamic. The alacrity of Jane's mental processes left mere mortals in his wake, as he juggled the seemingly random facts to come to a conclusion or at worst formulate a plan to expose the guilty party. It was impossible to control that, you just has to follow your instincts and hope for the best.

Of course the showman in him liked to do the reveal but the team were his willing stooges taking satisfaction in the results and perhaps enjoying the thrill of the somewhat unconventional chase. Lisbon was undoubtedly on a rollercoaster ride and whilst her cop instincts held little sway with him, Jane profoundly respected her and her unwavering loyalty to him was reciprocated when it really mattered. Was there a hint of romance? Not yet Hightower concluded, they were both too damaged in their own way for that but she would not rule it out at some future stage.

She knew Jane had deliberately given her an uncomfortable ride today, her efforts to control him had failed and she had a new found respect for Lisbon. Grudgingly she conceded that she could not help but like the man for all his chicanery and tomfoolery, she had been privy to a glimpse of the more introverted and kind man behind the facade.

It had been a bad day at the office but hell she felt exhilarated and could not help but chuckle when she recalled the moment when Jane was entirely at her mercy - not so cool after all Mr Smart Ass.

With the crap storm surrounding her, it was comforting to have such able lieutenants and little did she know how much she would need them, as things were going to get a whole lot worse before long.


End file.
